Heather loves salmon, I mean really loves salmon. So we were excited to try one of the fish recipes and particularly now that Roman had tracked down a local supplier in Singapore for cedar planks. Staying true to Roman’s Canadian roots we started with Maple Glazed Salmon.
Salmon prepped and on the plank
Now this recipe is based on a recipe on epicurious but we didn’t use scallions/spring onions and we set the egg to 400F and cooked the Salmon on the cedar plank for 15mins. Heather was a bit skeptical about the cedar plank but it tasted amazing and you could really taste and smell the cedar. The plank still looks good for another couple of goes so we will definitely be having this one again. We had one steak leftover so Heather and I can fight over that in the morning.
So Roman has been tinkering around with this recipe for a while. Different rubs, different sauces, different cooking methods and just lots of practice. We had 11 people coming over for dinner and he was determined to get it right so warm up for this night included a practice session on the Tuesday night which meant we were starving waiting for the ribs to be finished which was 9.00pm.
It was worth it because by Jove I think he’s got it. Here are the step by step photos
Rubbing the ribs
The secret to any incredible result is what you start with. So, for this little ditty, we got us some Fred Flintstone-style ribs from the West Coast Market. If you remember the opening sequence to the Flintstones’ cartoon, the family car flips over when the waitress places the Brontosaurus Ribs on the side of the car…these were just about the same size!
Moving along, you have to start with the dry rib rub, Roman has been favoring a recipe from Righteous Urban Barbecue in New York. Don’t over do it here but make sure you’ve got an even coating that will explode with flavor no matter where you bite the rib. Have your egg pre-heated to 275F and insert the place setter, drip pan, grate and rib rack.
Ribs after 2-3hrs
It is really important at this point to try and stabilize the temperature before you add the ribs. This is also a good point to add in a handful of presoaked wood chips. All I can get at the local store is Hickory but I must say, the strong smokey taste adds to the result. At this point add the ribs, close the egg and patiently cook for around 2-3hrs depending on the thickness of your ribs. Again it is really important that you have stabilized the cooking temperature. Try not to peek…the egg must be trusted!
Steeping your ribs
The next step is steeping the ribs. You need to create tin foil packets for each rack and in the base of each pack sprinkle brown sugar and honey before placing the rack in on top. Then sprinkle in brown sugar and honey on top of the rack pressing it in very gently to make sure it sticks. Then pour in about a cup of apple cider and seal up the packet.
After 60mins
Do this with all your racks and return to the grill for around an hour. After an hour has passed take your ribs out of the packets and smother in your favourite barbecue sauce, which in the Matla household is currently the Kansas City sauce recipe with a few modifications out of the Big Green Egg cook book. At this point return the ribs to the grill for about 30mins then remove and wrap tightly in tinfoil and a tea cloth and leave to rest for about another 20-30mins (if you can wait that long because by this point they smell incredible).
Finished Ribs
Heather was never a big rib fan until these ribs and now she can’t get enough of them.
Okay so maybe we were a bit naive how robust our pizza stone would be. We thought the “only use in temperatures of 180c and lower” was merely guidance not a hard and fast rule. Unfortunately the temperatures of 600F were just a little too much and by the second pizza we had two pizza stones rather than one. When we moved the stone out it completely disintegrated so other eggheads beware if it says maximum temperatures of 180C don’t ignore the warning.
CRACK!!!!
The pizzas were good but I think next time we will try cooking it straight on the place setter, just until we can find a pizza stone that can handle the fire power of the The Big Green Egg-terminator…..sorry the puns are just too tempting.
So as much as I tried to convince Heather to cook the turkey in the Egg she wasn’t too keen. I just had to content myself with grilling some sausages on the egg for lunch. St Nicolas was good to me and my egg, I got a plate setter, a three tier rack and a new thermometer. I am ready and equipped to grill.
After weeks of waiting patiently with the egg wrapped up on the balcony of our old apartment it was time to unwrap and what better recipe to start with than the grilling classic steak. The first challenge was learning how to light it….
Now it is no exaggeration that this became a dangerous spectator sport when Roman dropped the propane torch and almost set fire to his leg and then Brett. He eventually managed it but has now adapted his lighting technique and is now using alcohol gel which is definitely easier and more importantly a lot safer.
The steaks were really good and it was a very exciting taste of things to come. If they taste this good on the first attempt how good are they going to taste when we master this thing???
December 2010 a new home and a new addition to the family, actually make that two new additions to the family. Purchased on Craigslist from someone leaving the country it would be fair to say I have become addicted to my Big Green Egg and I foresee many happy years grilling.
An Egg-straordinary opportunity to Egg-sperience the Egg-citing recipes that Roman and Heather try on the best grill in Singapore (probably one of a tiny few Big Green Eggs in Singapore!) Apologies for all the Egg puns… Clearly we don't mean to be Egg-scruciating!!!
biggreenasianegg 大绿蛋 